International RL Blog

RLEF Central & Eastern Europe regional director,  Jovan Vujosevic,  recently announced plans for the Balkan Cup in October 2017.  He described progress made by the Turkish RL Association, how they will host the GB Student Pioneers and continued: "the national team will play in the Belgrade Euro 9s in June and the Balkan Cup in October 2017 alongside Serbia, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria who are so far confirmed.”

Serbia have confirmed themselves as a driving force behind European RL development by launching the Balkan Super League (BSL) This ambitious competition includes four clubs from Serbia and a team each from Bosnia Herzegovina, Turkey, and Bulgaria. It has the potential to become an elite club competition and is the result of hard work being done to develop the game domestically in a number of European countries. It is expected that Greece will enter at least one club in the BSL after the RLEF recently granted them Observer status. The travel distances and costs across southern/eastern Europe make the BSL an attractive proposition for clubs and it provides players with an opportunity to develop skills and play at a higher level. Serbian RL President and BSL Director, Blagoje Stoiljković believes bigger things are on the horizon. “We are confident that this is just a first step in the prosperous future of the sport in region. Serbia as a rugby league leader in this part of th...

Ambitious enthusiasts from all corners of the globe will converge on Sydney in November 2018 for the Rugby League Emerging Nations World Championship (ENWC) following a decision at today’s RLIF Board to award a grant of $100,000 to the event.  A celebration of the sport’s global expansion and diverse communities, the ENWC will feature Tier Two and Tier Three nations from around the world where the sport is developing. The Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) event will be a two-week gathering of communities from a geographical spread never seen before in rugby league.   “The 2018 Emerging Nations World Championship will feature more global teams than any previous rugby league competition,”  RLIF Chairman Nigel Wood said.   “It will put the spotlight on the fact that rugby league is played in more than 60 countries and give recognition to the many volunteer players and offic...

A magnificent display from man of the match, Kadıköy full-back Alican Acar – who crossed for five of their 13 tries – saw the Bulls triumph 66-14 in the first-ever Turkish Rugby League Grand Final. Centre Aykut Kanaclar also claimed a hat trick, as the unbeaten Bulls took the trophy at the Maltepe Stadium in Istanbul. Eren Kemal Sen grabbed a brace of touchdowns, Onur Ersoy, Doruk Celiktutan and Taylan Kokuroglu also crossing, whilst Behzad Jalili kicked seven goals. Kadıköy captain Doruk Celiktutan commented: “It was much higher quality than I expected even though it’s the first time we have held such a competition in Turkey. It shows the huge potential here. All our teams have improved with each game played.” Their coach Julien Treu, the instigator of the competition, added: “I would like to congratulate all the teams who took part of this first rugby league championship, the fixtures were fulfilled and we had some very exciting matches. Thanks also needs to go to everybody...

Turkey, who have been playing rugby league for less than a year, made their international debut facing Greek Titans at the Kallipatira Stadium on the island of Rhodes. The hosts, featuring 12 players from the domestic RLEF Greek Rugby League competition, won 86-0 but the Turks – who reached the final of the Rhodes 8s in the build-up – showed great promise. The Greeks were in control from the start with centre Mitchell Zampetides, who finished with six touchdowns, and Rhodes winger Panayiotis Lampousis both scoring a brace of tries to give the home side a 16-0 lead after 23 minutes. Zampetides registered his hat trick in the 28th minute before he was sin binned soon after, whilst Turkey lost centre Onur Ersoy, sent off for alleged kicking out, and playing with one less player began to take its toll. Winger Yiannis Valasas from the Aris Eagles club in Athens, finished off a back line move to score in the 35th minute and give the Titans a 26-0 lead at the interval. The second h...

After a summer of RL activity, the new world rankings have been announced by the RLIF. They are the first since the 2013 World Cup. The number of ranked-nations has risen to 34 including  new entrants Spain in 28 th  place.   Russia are up to 14 th  -the number of nations that will contest the 2017 World Cup. The biggest movers are Greece who rise to 26 th CLICK HERE for more info